Destroyed hospitals, no medicine: north Gaza’s health crisis

“More than 500,000 displaced Palestinians have returned in the past 72 hours, coming from southern and central areas to the northern governorates through Rashid and Salah al-Din streets,” the Palestinian government media office announced in a recent press statement. 

For these families, many of whom had sought refuge in the southern Gaza, now return to find their homes in ruins and their hospitals decimated and unrecognisable, torn apart by Israeli strikes and stripped of resources. 

After more than 15 months of an Israeli genocidal war, Gaza‘s already fragile medical infrastructure has collapsed, leaving residents without the essential care they desperately need.

The most basic medical supplies, including antibiotics, painkillers, and bandages, are in dire short supply, putting the lives of thousands of injured and ill patients at risk.

Official Palestinian data issued by the health ministry in the war-torn coastal enclave said more than half of Gaza’s hospitals are currently out of service due to the relentless Israeli bombardments, and the few remaining medical centres are operating at a fraction of their usual capacity. 

‘Unimaginable pain’

Al Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, can no longer accommodate the growing number of patients. Its severely damaged infrastructure has become a symbol of the health system’s collapse.

Al Shifa, once a beacon of hope for patients, has is currently a site where the desperate wait for care never arrives. 

Although doctors and volunteers work tirelessly to salvage what they can, the lack of equipment and essential supplies renders their efforts nearly futile.

“Unfortunately, some patients die before our eyes because we simply can’t provide the treatment they need. We don’t have the necessary medical supplies or space to treat them. We’re helpless,” Ibrahim Al-Dalo, a Palestinian doctor working at the Al Shifa Hospital, told The New Arab. 

The Arab Ahli Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, faces a similar devastation.  Its departments have been severely damaged, making it nearly impossible to provide adequate care. Although relief teams are setting up field units to handle emergencies, the resources available to them are insufficient.

Meanwhile, shelters are overcrowded and the lack of sanitation services have spread infectious diseases, according to officials at the health ministry. The potential for a full-blown epidemic is looming, and with it, the fear that more lives will be lost due to preventable causes, the official warned. 

“The return of displaced people to northern Gaza only accelerates the spread of these diseases. The polluted water and lack of sanitation create the perfect environment for disease. Children are especially vulnerable; they suffer from malnutrition and weakened immunity, which makes them more likely to contract diseases that could be fatal without proper treatment,” Salem Al-Rubai, a doctor at the hospital, told TNA. 

“My children are suffering from malnutrition because we can’t find enough food. But what’s even worse is the lack of medicine. My child needs medication to recover, but it’s simply not available,” Umm Mohammed, a mother of three, told TNA, voice breaking with emotion. 

“At first, we were hopeful about returning home. But now, I fear that the health system’s collapse will lead to more suffering. People are dying every day from illnesses that could have been prevented if we had the resources,” the 42-year-old mother noted. 

The Gaza Health Ministry urgently appealed to international organisations for medical supplies and humanitarian aid to prevent the patients from deteriorating. 

Officially, the World Health Organisation and the International Committee of the Red Cross have responded to the scale of the crisis far exceeds the support being provided. 

“The situation in Gaza is unprecedented. Even basic medical treatments are unavailable, and this is increasing the mortality rate among the patients, mainly those who were wounded by the Israeli army,” Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins sans frontières (MSF), said in a recent report. 

“The collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system means that patients are left to suffer unimaginable pain,” Mohammed Abdel Hadi, a wounded Palestinian man who returned to Gaza City, remarked to TNA. “I was seriously injured in my foot, and there is no one to treat me her in my city. The hospitals are overcrowded, and the medicines are gone. It feels as if I am being left to die slowly.” 

“I thought when I reached Gaza City that I would get the treatment I needed. But the situation here is worse than in the south. I don’t know how long I can survive like this,” he added.  

‘Crisis in not just medical, but also environmental’

Hala Abu Rajeh, a mother of three young children wounded by shrapnel, noted to TNA that the nightmare continued even when we returned. 

“We returned to northern Gaza to escape the violence in the south, but when we arrived, we found there was nothing here, and there are no basic services and no healthcare,” she said.

“My children need their bandages changed daily, but because of the shortage of medical supplies and the overwhelming number of patients, I can only get them changed once or twice a week. This delay increases their risk of infection,” she added.

During the 15-month Israeli genocidal war, the Israeli army killed more than 47,000 Palestinians and wounded over 111,000 others; a high number of them were left with life-threatening conditions that require surgery or specialised care, which is unavailable in Gaza. 

As a result, a large proportion of the casualties are children and women, exacerbating the already dire health crisis.

Serious environmental risks further compound the situation. Medical waste is piling up in the streets, while the rubble from bombings contains toxic materials that threaten to poison the air and soil. 

Palestinian health officials in Gaza warned that the environmental hazards posed by the toxic dust and contaminated water could have long-lasting consequences on the population’s health.

“The crisis is not only just medical, but it is environmental too,” Munir al-Bursh, the general director of the health ministry in Gaza, told TNA. 

“The air is polluted, the water is undrinkable, and the streets are filled with medical waste. This is a crisis that cannot be ignored,” al-Bursh said. 

“The people of Gaza are caught in a relentless cycle of suffering. They are surrounded by the horrors of war, disease, and deprivation, and yet they continue to wait for the international community to intervene,” he added. 

Until the world steps in to help, the people of Gaza remain trapped in a desperate struggle for survival, their hope slowly slipping away as they face a health catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.